Progress:Education

Clarion-Goldfield plans September election

Potential school merger with Dows possible

February 10, 2013

CLARION - A potential school merger and technology plans are on the agenda for the Clarion-Goldfield Community School District in 2013.

The planning for the upcoming election, which will be held in September, took up much of the school's planning for last year.

Superintendent Robert Olson said 2012 was "a year of change."

Article Photos

-Messenger photo by Hans MadsenClarion-Goldfield Community School District and Dows are looking at the possibility of merging. A reorganizational vote will be held in September. If the measure passes, the Dows building would be closed and all students would attend classes in Clarion.

"We are in the process of moving forward with an election for reorganization between Clarion-Goldfield and Dows Schools," he said. "As of late, there's also been some discussion about the North Iowa Conference wanting Clarion-Goldfield to change from North Central to the North Iowa Conference."

Olson said the school has been invited to consider moving its membership to participate in what is being called a "super conference".

While the election to decide whether to reorganize both schools won't happen for several more months, planning is already under way for what would happen if the measure passes.

"All the education would be provided in the Clarion buildings, while the Dows building would be closed," Olson said. "It would provide the schools a chance to become more efficient together."

Olson added the school is making sure information about the election is made available to the community.

"What we're looking to do is provide plenty of information for district patrons concerning reorganization so they can make informed decisions by Sept. 10," he said. "Then, should the reorganization happen, there's going to be a busy year of transitioning from two districts to one."

Olson said he was at the district in 1993 when Clarion and Goldfield merged, and can attest to how much work it takes to make sure the transition runs smoothly.

"I know there's a great deal to be done, and the election is not the end of it," he said.

Besides the reorganization, another new development for Clarion-Goldfield that's on the horizon is the integration of more technology in the classrooms. Olson said a new 1-1 initiative will be coming to the middle school, where every student will get an iPad.

He said this will be happening "sometime in the near future," and will be beneficial to the students.

"Having technology in the hands of the students allows them to use it as an instructional tool," Olson said. "It would also allow our instructors to push their instruction to the electronic form. It will only increase as the students navigate in a technological world."